PORT TOWNSEND — One month after the foreclosure of Clam Cannery by Columbia Bank, there are two programs available to help those who planned to stay in the now-bankrupt complex.
A number has been posted on the entrance doors for any guest with a reservation to make other arrangements.
And Groupon, the Chicago-based online coupon sales firm that offered a discount deal last January, said it will provide full refunds for anyone who participated in the deal.
“We have no records from the former owner as to how many reservations or events were planned,” said Re/Max agent Teren MacLeod.
“We want to be as helpful as possible so they might find other arrangements.”
MacLeod said her agency cannot provide any refunds or guarantees but hopes to “provide help to someone who gets there at 9 at night and doesn’t have a place to go.”
A flier with a phone number and a website to book alternate lodging is posted on all the facilities’ entrances.
Groupon is proactively seeking out people who participated in the Clam Cannery deal and providing full refunds.
Groupon offers a daily discount of a service, collecting the money directly.
In January the site offered a single night’s stay in the hotel for $124 — 66 percent less than the regular $349 price for that particular room.
More than 480 people participated in the deal, according to the expired offer notice.
The company’s policy is to collect the funds and distribute it in three increments over 60 days to the hotel, taking half of the amount as a commission.
Using this formula, Groupon would have sent the Clam Cannery $29,760 by March 15.
The company would not provide any information specific to the account.
Company spokeswoman Julie Mossler said Groupon has contacted people who had purchased the deal and credited them with a full refund.
Kevin Harris, who lost the property to the bank, said “lots of people” cashed in their Groupon coupons but said he did not recall the exact number.
Mossler would not disclose how many refunds had been offered.
She said the company’s practice of distributing funds incrementally over two months was designed so clients “would not use us as a way to get a fast infusion of cash.”
The Clam Cannery has been under the threat of foreclosure for more than a year — which includes the period when the Groupon deal was offered.
The Clam Cannery has a total of 6,482 square feet divided among meeting rooms on the ground floor and four luxury condominiums on the second floor that were offered as long- and short-term lodging.
The asking price for the property at 111 Quincy St. is just under $1.3 million, according to MacLeod.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
